Lost Scales
by Crazy-Chemist1
Summary: How to Train your Dragon. Bits of stories, and stories that are just bits. Some weird. Some funny. Some sad. Some Serious. Some just plain insane! And most mercifully short. The discard pile for my twisted psyche. Peruse at your own risk!
1. Lost Scales

Well, since lots of other people seem to have them, I decided to jump on the bandwagon! This is just going to be a series of drabbles, short stories, and miscellaneous bits and pieces that are floating around my brain. Some of them might be loosely connected, some of them might not be. Odds are they won't be particularly well written or proof checked. Or sane. Which is why it's a good thing they're likely to be short, right? Right!

In any case, I figured I'd start off with something silly and funny. So without further ado...

* * *

**Missing Scales**

* * *

It was an unusually beautiful day on the island of Berk. The sun was shining, the flowers were blooming, the birds were chirping away merrily. Which was why Hiccup and Astrid were taking a leisurely stroll down a forested path, hand in hand. Just the two of them.

And, of course, Hiccups enormous winged black shadow.

Astrid was giggling over something silly Hiccup has whispered in her ear when an odd sound came from behind them. It was something between a 'Sploosh" a 'Thunk' and a 'Zorp.' And it was enough to cause both young Vikings to turn and look behind them at Toothless.

Only, Toothless was.. missing? Instead of Hiccup's faithful flying friend, there stood a muscular human boy surrounded by a pile of loose black scales. He was tall, handsome, and well muscled with a mop of unruly black hair covering his head. And a confused look on his face as he stared blankly at his hands.

"What the...? Did I just loose my scales?" Human-Toothless asked in puzzlement, his voice a deep, powerful bass.

"What." Hiccup began.

"The." Astrid added.

"Hell?" Both of them asked in unison.

Miles away, Ruffnut and Tuffnut sneezed in unison and were filled with a suspicion that someone, somewhere was stealing their shtick.

"Aw hell. I tuned into a human, didn't I?" Toothless asked, looking his (thankfully fully clothed!) body over.

"Um.... Yeah?" Hiccup agreed tentatively, taking a step closer to his friend while Astrid remained rooted in place in shock.

"Well THAT just figures." The former dragon snorted, poking his own arm curiously.

"Ah, does this thing happen to dragons OFTEN?" Hiccup asked as he circled the other boy.

"Eh, you'd be surprised." Toothless shrugged expressively. "I must have pissed off Loki. Or stumbled upon a wishing stone. Or maybe one of the Gods thought they were doing me a favor. It happens."

"Wow. Okay then." Hiccup couldn't quite think of anything to add to that as he stopped in front of his friend again, looking him over.

"Hmmm.. Well, I guess I'm not going to be able to give you rides anymore." The newly minted human growled sadly. A strange glint appeared in Hiccup's eyes.

"I'm sure we can think of some way for me to still mount you." He stepped a bit closer to his friend.

"I suppose I COULD still make you fly somehow..." The taller black haired boy replied with a grin.

"EEEeeeeeeee!" Astrid finally snapped out of her trance, slapping her hands to her face with a fangirlish squeal.

"So now you two can finally consummate your relationship with some boy-boy love?" She squeaked, a most un-Astrid like sound. She was actually rather torn. The last thing she wanted was to have her boyfriend stolen from her. Especially by another boy. But another part of her couldn't help but get giddy at the thought of those two together.

Which was why she froze when both of them turned their heads to stare at her as if she were insane.

"What? Him and me? Like that? Ugh! No, sorry Toothless, no way." Hiccup waved his hands in denial, a look of disgust on his face.

"Yeah, no. Just NO. The Night Fury does NOT swing that way." Toothless crossed his arms and nodded vigorously, an identical look of disgust marring his features. "Same here. Exactly." Hiccup made a disgusted face. "Why would you even THINK that? We're just FRIENDS for crying out loud!"

"Yeah!" Toothless nodded in agreement. "Totally!" He and Hiccup turned and high-fived each other.

"But.. But.. But..." Astrid stammered, only to be ignored by the two friends.

"Well, since I'm human now, I guess I'll go back to town and hit on Ruffnut. She's a total Hottie!" Toothless grinned with his perfect teeth.

"You go head and do that Bud! Good luck!" He and Hiccup fist punched each other.

"See you back at the main hall tonight for drinks?" Toothless asked as he turned to walk down the path.

"You better believe it! Tell me how it goes!"

Astrid just stood there dumbfounded as Hiccup waved and while human-Toothless walked confidently back to town. Finally she staggered up besides Hiccup, a feeling of dread in her stomach.

"Nothing good can possibly come of this." She finally managed to say. Hiccup seemed to consider her words for a moment.

"Yeah. Yeah, you're probably right." An awkward silence lingered for a few moments.

"So, wanna go behind that tree and make out?" Hiccup asked hopefully. The day had proven totally surreal so far, so it was worth a shot.

"... Sure. Why not."

"Woohoo!" Surreal was totally paying off for him!

* * *

**Sorry, I just couldn't resist poking fun at the whole 'Toothless is romantically in Love with Hiccup' and 'Toothless magically becomes human for _insert reason here_' thing. I'm not saying that such stories are BAD per se. Just that I can't resist poking fun at them!**


	2. Fashion Accessories

I should be working on polishing off the last chapter of Slow Transitions, but I'm having more fun churning out these little snippets of insanity. Soooo, here's the next one.

* * *

**Fashion Accessories**

* * *

Hiccup was happy. Hiccup was EXSTATIC! Hiccup had asked Astrid out to the annual harvest festival! And she had said yes! He was thrilled! He was, honestly, a little shocked she said yes. But he had a DATE! And, possibly even, dare he think it? A GIRLFRIEND! He was...

He was suddenly distracted by some grumbling and cursing from just off the path he was walking down.

Hiccup had been meandering across the island in a daze. So of course Toothless had followed along behind him, bemused by his human's antics and wishing to keep him out of trouble as he wandered around in a fog of happiness.

In response to the odd noises, the pair glanced at each other and shrugged before Hiccup decided to step off the beaten path and follow the noises to their source. The voice sounded somewhat familiar after all. And it wasn't as if he had anything to fear. Not with several hundred pounds of overprotective Night Fury at his back.

And so the one legged red head quietly slipped through the trees and underbrush. Well, as quietly as he could manage. It was a sad testament to his stealth skills that Toothless, who weighed several hundred pounds, was substantially larger, and had numerous additional appendages to keep track of, was the quieter of the two. Regardless, he somehow still managed to approach his target unnoticed.

And what a target it was! There, a few feet off the path stood.. well.. crouched.. the love of his life! His blonde haired goddess! Her beautiful face.. marred with.. streaks of dirt. Well, she was a Viking! It just showed how.. Vigorous she was! And look at the way she was.. clawing at the ground with her hands, mumbling something along the lines of 'Here chipmunk chipmunk chipmunk...'

Okay, he was having a hard time putting a positive spin on THAT. It was just weird.

"Ah, Astrid! Fancy meeting you out here!" He laughed nervously as the girl raised her head to stare at him, though he relaxed a bit when she smiled in return.

"Oh, hi Hiccup!" Her smile seemed to light up her face as she glanced up at him for a moment before then returned her attention to her digging.

"So, ah, what're you doing? Is there anything I can help with?" He offered tentatively.

"No, I've got it covered. I'm just.. . working on my new dress. You know. For the dance." She didn't meet his eyes, but he could see her cheeks flush a bit as she kept digging.

"Ah. I see." Actually, he didn't see. At all. Once again he and Toothlss turned to stare at each other and share a silent shrug. "Right. So. How is that working out for you?"

"Well, it could be going.. AHA! Gotcha!" She crowed in victory as her hand snatched out to snag.... A very frightened looking chipmunk.

"Sooooo.. what's with the chipmunk?" Hiccup was feeling less and less comfortable, especially when Astrid pulled out a small knife, a gleam in her eyes.

"Well, it's for my dress, obviously." She blew a strand of hair out of her eyes and gave Hiccup a 'Well, duh!' look. "I'm going to need accessories for it of course."

Hiccup's brow furrowed in puzzlement.

"Accessories?"

Astrid just gestured at her normal outfit, indicating the belt around her waist that held up her skirt. "Duh. Where do you think all these came from?" She asked, indicating the small skulls that decorated it as she lifted her knife to the chipmunk's throat.

"Oooooooookay.... You know, maybe we could go back to town and I could, I don't know, carve you some..." Hiccup and Toothless both went silent and slack jawed as they watched Astrid calmly cut the small creature's head off, making a bit of a bloody mess on her hands.

"Hmmmm.. too small for the centerpiece of a belt. But it might work for a shoulder pad. Oh, or maybe a hair piece if I can find a matching one." She looked down at the burrow she'd dug up, then glanced at the severed head. "Hmmmm.. I wonder if you have any brother's and sisters of the same size?" she asked it conversationally.

"Lets back away. Very. Slowly." Hiccup whispered to Toothless out of the corner of his mouth while giving the distracted Astrid a big smile. Toothless nodded soundlessly in agreement.

"Well then Astrid, Toothless and I will just.. Leave you to doing.. The things you're doing. While he and I get back to.. Um.. the things WE were doing..." He grinned anxiously as both he and his friend slowly began to back away.

Not that Astrid was paying them much mind. She was cheerfully digging again. "Sure thing Hiccup! Let me know if you find any squirrels though! I could use a few larger skulls. I think baby squirrels would be the perfect size..." She answered absently.

"Riighht.. we'll be sure to do that. Well, Gotta go! Seeyoulater!Bye!" Having reached minimum safe distance, both Viking and Dragon turned tail and ran. Astrid barely seemed to notice, engrossed in her preparations for the dance, humming a cheerful little tune to herself as she worked.

A few hundred feet away, Hiccup huffed and puffed to catch his breath. He and Toothless just stared at each other for a while, occasionally turning their heads to look back the way they came. Finally Hiccup caught his breath and broke the silence.

"Okay... And we thought Tuffnut was the crazy one WHY?"

* * *

**Come on! I can't be the ONLY person to wonder where she got the skulls on her outfit from! Sure I may have made her a bit... Overly enthusiastic about expanding her wardrobe.. But surely even Viking girls like to accessorize!**

**Anyway, it says right at the front that these stories are the cast offs of my twisted psyche! You were warned! You were WARNED!**


	3. I am a Viking!

What if Hiccup had made a different decision when he came across the downed Night Fury?

* * *

**I am a Viking!**

**

* * *

**

"I'm a Viking. I am a VIKING!" Hiccup held the knife up over his head, trying to psyche himself up. Trying to get into the mindset of a proper Viking. Trying to ignore the big green eyes staring up at him hopelessly. The knife shook in his trembling hands.

This was it. His chance, maybe his one and only chance, to become a real Viking. To earn the respect of the village. To earn his father's praise. Maybe even be a hero. But…

The beast turned its head away, closing its eyes with a groan. Hiccup felt like he was standing on a knife's edge, one far keener than the blade in his hand.

And then one of the dragon's legs twitched and strained against the ropes that bound it. And the knife came down almost on instinct. Almost before he realize he'd done it.

Almost.

* * *

He'd stood there and stared for a time. The forest strangely silent. The dragon had laid there, quiet and unmoving. Those large green eyes closed for the last time in death. But eventually he had come back to his senses. Had staggered back to the village. Had found his father, and told him what he had done.

There was disbelief at first. But Stoic had seen the blood on his hands. And more startling, had seen the strange look in his eyes. So he had listened to his scrawny fishbone of a son for once. Not really believing his story of course, but deep in his heart hoping it was true.

And when they found the beast…

* * *

The celebration had been enormous. And Hiccup had pride of place. He was a hero! He had taken down a Night Fury! A NIGHT FURY! A dragon no one had even SEEN before, but that all knew to fear! Struck down out of the night sky by one of Hiccup's insane contraptions, and then finished off face to face! With one perfect stroke of but a small knife!

Obviously they had been wrong! Stoic's blood had told true, no doubt! The boy was a Viking through and through!

Hiccup's heart had swollen with pride to hear the villagers speak of him so. For the first time in his life he had respect. The respect of the village. And more importantly, the respect of his FATHER. For the first time in his life, his father had smiled down upon him with PRIDE shining in his eyes.

And all he needed to do to get it was make one single stroke with a knife.

So why was it that those big green eyes haunted his dreams so?

* * *

Stoic had wanted to mount the dragon's head over the fire pit, but Hiccup had insisted the beast be given a proper burial, if nothing else. And for once his father acquiesced. All he had taken from the remains was a single black scale, which he wore around his neck like a talisman.

The villagers had nodded in understanding. It was, in a strange way, honorable. The Night Fury had been a worth foe. There was joy to be had in its death. It had been a deadly danger after all. But now that it was laid low, there was no harm in showing it some respect.

It was a bit odd, yes. But Hiccup himself was quite odd. And look at what his strange behavior had wrought! Maybe there WAS something to the boy after all. His behavior had just added to his growing legend. The absolute lack of Night Fury attacks over the following weeks and months made it clear that what he had slain wasn't 'merely' a Night Fury. He had slain THE Night Fury. He had slain a myth. A Legend. And did that not make him a Legend himself?

And the contraptions he built! Before they had been dismissed. Ignored. They were the work of a failure. The product of a diseased mind. No right minded Viking wanted to have anything to do with them. Swords, axes, and hammers... Now THOSE were good, traditional weapons for a Viking to wield!

But after he had brought down the Night Fury with one of his contraptions… Hiccup had found himself beset by 'traditional' Vikings who were all too eager to test out his creations. And with more test subjects and assistance, he had been able to tweak and improve them far more readily.

First he had modified the catapults to fire more rapidly. That earned his engineering skills some respect. Then came the Ballista he designed. It had been able to throw a bolt hard enough to skewer two Gronkles in a row and barely slow down. That had earned him acclaim. And when he threw his newly won reputation behind his plans to change the locations and firing arcs of the catapults, people had actually LISTENED. Listened, and eventually agreed.

When his optimized defensive plans devastated the next dragon raid, his place in the village, his place in Viking lore itself, was secured.

What more could he have possibly wanted?

* * *

When he was a boy, Hiccup could put charcoal to paper and capture the world around him. The plants, the animals, the sky and the sea. But as the years passed it seemed that whenever he sat down with a piece of parchment, it was to sketch out ever more efficient weapons. Stronger bows, larger catapults, more deadly ballistae. Whenever he tried to draw anything else, he would find himself sketching a pair of slit pupilled eyes. The eyes that he saw staring back at him whenever he shut his own.

* * *

Hiccups inventions and plans led to the slaughter of most dragon raids. The flocks of sheep grew larger. The village ate well through the winter. Less time was spent rebuilding that which had been destroyed, and more time was spent making the defenses even stronger. And Hiccup had been considered to be source of much of that good fortune.

No one ever commented on the fact that he never fought off or slew another dragon himself. At last not to his face. But people spoke of it in low murmers. 'He has his reasons.' The villagers told each other. 'Why would he sully his hands with a mere Nightmare, when he slew the offspring of lightening and death itself?' they whispered. 'I hear he made an oath to Odin that he wouldn't lift a blade to a dragon again until he faced one the equal of his first kill.' THAT was always a favorite.

Hiccup could hear the whispers sometimes. He did his best to ignore them, maintaining a stern, confident visage appropriate to a Viking of his growing reputation and rank. But the truth was he simply couldn't kill another dragon. Couldn't even think of it without seeing those sad, hopeless eyes staring back at him.

Hiccup never raised a weapon in anger after that. Never CARRIED a weapon aside from his one small knife. So why did his hands always feel like they were covered in blood?

* * *

Years passed. The dragon raids grew fewer and weaker, while the Vikings of Berk grew stronger and more dangerous.

There had no longer been any question as to who would succeed Stoic the Vast as chief of the tribe. Hiccup had stood confidently at his father's side, his scrawny frame finally covered in corded muscle. He had never become a powerhouse like the other Vikings, but the village had long since recognized that his power was in his head, not his biceps. And they had actually come to respect that.

Yes despite his successes, there was still one thing that eluded him. One victory that remained out of his grasp. Just as it had escaped his father. And countless generations of Vikings.

The Dragon's Nest.

But Hiccup was unlike any past Viking. He thought in strange ways. He didn't send ships out into the fog and rocks searching for the nest. Instead he studied.

He studied the dragons. He studied their strength. How much they could lift. How long they could fly. He studied the wind. How hard did it blow? In which directions? For how long? And he studied the seas. Sent galleys out to map the farther islands. To mark the pillars of rocks so that others could navigate through the fog.

He drew an enormous map of Berk and its surroundings. And over the weeks and months and years it became cluttered with circles and arrows and notations. Notes on wind direction and distance and maximum flying ranges. Pins to denote sightings, red flags to mark attacks. It took YEARS before he finished his studies.

Before he had been able to slam a dagger into a location and the map and announce that here, HERE was the dragons nest.

They left that day.

* * *

And it had all led to this.

The beast was enormous. Bigger than any dragon that Vikings had ever seen. HadD ever even CONCIEVED of.

The ships were burning. The ballista he had ordered brought, improved or not, proved to be no match for the monster's scales. And both the timbers they were made of and the crews that served them were no match for the flames it breathed out.

They had found the nest. Had found it filled with but a smattering of weakened, tired dragons. And one monster.

His father had been proud. Proud of his son. Proud of his accomplishments. Proud to have the chance at one last great battle before he handed over the reigns of power to his successor, his offspring. But the pride in his father's eyes had died when the beast broke through the cliff side. It had been replaced by shock and a touch of fear. And then Hiccup had watched as all expression had faded from the face of Stoic the Vast as he went ahead to Valhalla.

And so Hiccup had stood his ground. Stood his ground and tried to distract the beast while what remained of the tribe's warriors made for the far side of the island, for what little good it might do them. He stood on the shattered, broken earth while his fleet burned behind him. One hand wrapped around the handle of the only weapon he ever carried, the other wrapped around a single black scale that hung from his neck.

And as the monster opened its gaping map at him, as he stared past its enormous teeth and into the darkness of its throat, one traitorous thought repeated itself in the back of his mind. As it had repeated itself constantly over the years since that fateful day.

_This is not the way things were meant to be._

And another part of his mind replied. _Maybe not. But it is what I deserve._

And as he stood there calmly, feeling the air whistle by as the beast inhaled for another fiery blast, all he could see in the blackness of that monstrous maw was a pair of brilliant green eyes staring back at him.

* * *

**Hey, I never said that ALL the stories would be silly and funny, now did I? Quite the opposite really. I only promised hat they'd be mercifully short! **

**In any case, I imagine that if Hiccup HAD slain the Night fury, he WOULD have become a hero to Berk and gotten all the attention and respect he dreamed of. But, of course, dreams come at a price. And they don't always turn out to be what you thought they would be. Sometimes they end up as nightmares.**

**I thought this would be a pretty accurate depiction of what might have happened HAD Hiccup made a very different choice when confronted with a downed dragon. What do you think?**


	4. Lost Scales, Part Two

I'm not really sure WHERE this idea came from. But I'm pretty certain I should have just left it there. But since I didn't, here we have….

* * *

**Lost Scales, Part Two (The Unwanted Sequel)**

* * *

Hiccup sighed in relief as closed the door of his house behind him. It had been a long day, and he couldn't wait to sit down and take some weight off his prosthetic leg. Stoic was off on a raid of one sort of another, so Hiccup had the house to himself.

It was days like this that Hiccup missed Toothless. Well, the OLD Toothless. The winged, scaly version. He had always been around to give Hiccup a hand when he was tired and unbalanced. Not to mention he was damned handy when you needed a fire started in the hearth!

Not that Hiccup was going to complain. The new human-shaped toothless was AWESOME! If nothing else it was great to be able to have a full CONVERSATION with his best bud. They met up almost every night at the bar and shared drinks, told jokes, and generally had a good time. Sure, they couldn't fly together anymore like the old days, but with enough mead (and good company to drink it with) he felt like he was on cloud nine after a few mugs anyway.

Unsurprisingly, Hiccup was a bit of a lightweight. But on he plus side, he was a very HAPPY drunk.

And Toothless himself was proving to be pretty popular with the village as well. The people of Berk took his transformation pretty much in stride. It helped that he turned out looking like the archetype of a proper Viking. Tall, muscular, and ruggedly handsome. Plus he was, technically, just as much a hero as Hiccup. They'd taken out the Red Death together after all.

Really, the two of them had a great time hanging out. Though Hiccup was always a little puzzled as to why Toothless kept saying he was such a great "wingman" when they hit the bar. What did wings have to do with drinking? All Hiccup did was hang around at the bar with Toothless, and sometimes chat up people who came by.

It never really dawned on Hiccup how often they seemed to be approached by women. In pairs. And somehow the hot girls would end up talking to Toothless, while he ended up chatting with the more.. Shall we say, rotund females. Honestly, Hiccup didn't care. He was simply ecstatic that ANYONE was willing to listen to him. After a few mugs of mead, he tended to forget he was a hero these days, and not the runt that everyone ignored.

For their part, the, shall we say, less physically beautiful girls were always rather pleased to be getting some attention from one of the village heroes. Pleased and distracted. Distracted enough for Toothless to make his escape, inevitably with the cuter of the pair.

After that things followed a fairly set pattern. Astrid would eventually show up and, SOMEHOW, the girl Hiccup was talking to about proper saddle design for dragons would realize she needed to be elsewhere. And her seat would immediately be occupied by a rather irate looking Astrid, whose anger always puzzled Hiccup. Mostly because he was, by this time, usually three sheets to the wind and totally clueless as to what had his girlfriend upset. So he'd smile at Astrid, mutter something unintelligible about how beautiful she was, and somehow manage to divert her anger to some 'hussies' that were moving in on her man.

Hiccup never did figure out who these 'hussies' were. But after she scared off whoever he was chatting with, Astrid would spend half the night publicly making out with him to mark her territory. So, hey, win for him!

It was weird though. Hiccup always kept a bed made up for Toothless so he'd have a place to spend the night. But he almost never took him up on it. Hiccup had worried about Toothless not having a house or anyplace to go, but the dragon turned human had just winked at him and told him not to worry… 'The Night Fury can always find a warm bed to spend the night in.'

Hiccup was pulled out of his memories by a loud banging on the door.

"Hiccup! Hiccup, let me in! Quick!" called a desperate rumbly bass voice.

Recognizing Toothless, Hiccup hurriedly staggered to the door and threw it open.

"Toothless! What's wro…" He didn't even finish speaking before the tall black haired boy was in the house and slamming the door shut, staring at Hiccup with wide, terrified eyes.

"You've gotta hide me buddy! Somewhere! Anywhere! Just HIDE ME!" He begged, shaking Hiccup by the shoulders as he panicked.

"S... S… S…Sure B.. B.. Buddy!" Hiccup gasped in relief as Toothless stopped shaking him hard enough to make his prosthetic rattle. "But who am I hiding you FROM?"

As if on cue, there was a loud hammering on the door. Toothless' eyes went wide in terror.

"From THEM!" He whispered loudly before vanishing up the stairs to hide.

Hiccup stared after him for a moment, wondering what, exactly, could frighten his friend so. Then he looked back at the door, which was practically rattling in its frame from the pounding it was taking. Swallowing nervously, the scrawny Viking reached out to undo the latch and open the door, imagining all manner of monsters and terrors outside.

And indeed, there WAS something terrifying outside.

It looked like half of the teenage girls in the village were gathered outside his door in a small mob. They were even carrying torches and pitchforks! And they were all glaring at him hard enough to set him on fire, their eyes filled with rage.

It was like staring at a hundred angry Astrids.

Hiccup shivered in terror at the thought and opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by calls from the crowd.

"Where is that slimy reptile?"

"I'm going to castrate him!"

"Drag him out! Drag him out! Drag him…"

"I've been throwing up every morning since…"

".. said I was the only one for him!"

".. and missed my period twice!"

"Can't interbreed my ass! I'm gonna KILL…"

"We know he's in there! We KNO…"

"Dad's gonna kill me!"

"… PREGNANT!"

Hiccup could only stand there stunned by the cacophony of angry voices. Angry voices from angry women, who were carrying angry instruments of violence. This was in fact WAY too much like confronting a mob of Astrids for Hiccup's piece of mind.

"Ah.. . ah ladies, ladies! Please calm down!" He begged, gesturing for calm with his hands. All this succeeded in doing was drawing the FULL attention of several dozen angry, hormonal, and heavily armed young Viking females on him. He shivered.

"Ah.. Well.. you see, Toothless.. He doesn't usually stay here anymore. As.. as I'm sure you've all noticed." He swallowed nervously. "Ah.. He's been finding. . Other places to stay, at night. Maybe he's, ah.. with someone else?"

The girls turned to look at each other, talking amongst themselves.

"The string bean is right."

"Two timing winged snake!"

"I'll BET he's with another girl!"

"Who's not here with us?"

"Um.. Soretooth and Melinda are missing…"

"COME ON! Let's go get that bastard!"

With a roar of outrage, the mob turned on heel and headed off into the distance. Hiccup just stared after them in shock.

"Bizarre…." He whispered as he closed the door… before leaning back against it and sliding down to the floor with a sigh of relief.

"Hiccup! That was BRILLIANT!" Toothless descended the stairs with an enormous grin. "I thought I was dead for sure, since you can't lie to save your life!"

"I DIDN'T lie…" He sighed in relief at still being alive himself. "I never said you WEREN'T here." The two friends stared at each other for a moment before they broke out into relieved laughter.

Which was quickly interrupted by more angry pounding on the door.

"Quick! HIDE!" Hiccup hissed as he stood up. But before Toothless could even turn to run, the door as smashed open.

Revealing an enraged looking Astrid standing on the threshold.

"A.. Astrid! What a.. pleasant.. surprise…" Hiccup twitched as he took in the appearance of his girlfriend. Narrowed eyes? Check. Clenched fists? Check. Palatable aura of anger and violence? Check.

How could he have ever compared that measly mob of angry man-hating females to Astrid? A hundred mobs that size could never be as menacing as the real deal!

And suddenly his mind made a disturbing connection.

"Astrid? Why are you here? Did Toothless……" His words trailed off as he turned towards his best friend. Suddenly it was TOOTHLESS cowering, and Astrid's aura of rage seemed like little more than a campfire besides the raging inferno that was Hiccup.

"TOOOOOTTHHLLESSSS!"

"Hiccup! No way would I do that!" the dragon-turned-human swore. "You're my best friend! I'd never go poaching on your girlfriend!"

And just like that, Hiccup deflated. "Yeah, you're right. What was I thinking?" He laughed nervously as the adrenaline left his scrawny body. He turned back towards his girlfriend.

"So if you're not here about Toothless… " Hiccup began curiously.

"I'm here about YOU Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third!" She growled angrily, taking a step forward and poking him in the chest.

"What? But what did _I_ do?" Hiccup stepped back nervously, but Astrid wasn't letting him escape.

"It's what you HAVEN'T done that's the problem!" Astrid hissed at him.

"… Huh?" Hiccup stared at her blankly, completely at a loss.

"Did you know that I'm practically the LAST girl in the village that's still a virgin?" She demanded.

Hiccup just gapped. He turned towards a smugly grinning Toothless, then returned to gaping at Astrid.

"I am NOT going to be the last good looking girl in the village to get laid! Which is why YOU are coming with ME!" She grabbed his arm and hooked it around her own, practically dragging him out of the (now broken) front door.

"You're going to take me someplace ROMANTIC! You're going to whisper sweat things into my ear! And then we're going to screw like rabbits! Understood?" She demanded.

"Um.. Y. Yes ma'am!" He sputtered, still gaping as he was practically dragged out the door. Looking back, he could see Toothless standing in the doorway giving him two thumbs up.

"And the wingman takes flight!" The black haired boy called out, giving him a roguish grin.

_This has been a BIZARRE night._ Hiccup thought to himself. Then he turned back to look over at his very motivated, very determined girlfriend. And he began to consider exactly WHAT she was so determined ABOUT.

_You know what? Bizarre is totally working out for me!_

* * *

**Yeah. You know, I really can't think of anything to say after writing this. Except, perhaps…. I'm sorry?**

**I mentioned my twisted psyche already, right? I SAID it was twisted….**


	5. The Lost Boy

This is the opening chunk of a story idea floating around my head. I could possibly make it into an entire story, but my muse seems to be weakening, so I doubt I'll quite manage it. I haven't even figured out what to call it yet, but I think I'm going to go with…

* * *

**The Lost Boy**

* * *

Astrid made her way down the path carefully. It was evening, and the sun was already sinking below the horizon, throwing long shadows across the ground. Soon only the moon would provide illumination. But that was okay. She didn't plan to stay long.

Fishlegs hadn't been a very good friend after all. Come to it, he hadn't been a very good warrior either. But they'd gone through dragon training together, and that was counted for something. He hadn't been a bad Viking, per se. But he had always been happier out in the fishing fleet, helping keep Berk fed. Which just made his passing ironic. Or perhaps appropriate.

Regardless, he had been a fellow trainee, and that was enough to earn him some respect. Not many people had been particularly friendly with the large man, so Astrid took it upon herself to occasionally come to visit his memorial stone. Burials were rare things in the rocky soil of Berk. Funeral pyres were easier. But when a Viking went on to Valhalla, a marker stone would usually be left behind, for remembrance.

And thus Astrid was heading for the Field of the Fallen, a rocky promontory that hung out over the ocean waves. And she was heading there this late in the evening because her day had been busy. And, well, if she was seen visiting Fishleg's stone by others, they might take it to mean there had been something between them. Which could not be further from the truth.

Still, best to avoid that sort of gossip if possible. She was certain that the Fishlegs would understand and not hold her behavior against her. He had always been a surprisingly gentle fellow, and could never really hold a proper grudge. Besides, few bothered to visit his stone, and beggars could hardly be choosers.

The sun had mostly set when she arrived at the edge of the field. She slowed her pace, pausing as she heard something ahead of her. A voice, perhaps? Slivers of conversation in the distance? Her eyes narrowed. _Who else could be here at this hour?_ No one had died recently, so there should be no grieving family members about. The evening shadows lengthened, trees and rocks casting deep impenetrable pools of darkness. Her hand shifted to her axe as she slid closer, silent as a shadow herself.

Siding around a large boulder, a low rumbling noise met her ears. And then a voice.. Definitely a voice. Male by the sound of it. But one she couldn't recognize. And Astrid knew most every Viking on the island… She strained her ears to hear.

"Heh. So, they thought so little of me they just assumed I hadn't made it." The voice sounded amused. And that strange rumbling followed it a moment later.

"I suppose you're right. Really, I'm surprised they put a stone out at all. Or didn't cast it into the sea." Astrid continued to listen as she rounded the stone slowly, trying to get a look at the trespasser. Because whoever he was he did NOT belong here.

"I'm surprised they left my whole name. Thought that would be stricken off for sure." There was another pause, and then the man laughed again. It was a cold, humorless sound. "Right, right. Death DOES end dishonor, doesn't it? What was I thinking."

Another stretch of silence. "And they even recorded that little scuffle before we left. Imagine that."

By now Astrid had rounded the boulder in her path and could clearly see the field of stones. And she could see a strangely dressed man kneeling in front of one in particular, placed at the end of the field, close to the edge of the cliff. As she watched, he stood up and dusted off his furs.

"Well, I guess we'll just have to show them they were wrong to write us off, won't we old friend?" He turned his head, seeming to address an especially dark shadow beneath one of the few trees to grow on the rocky promontory. Then the man seemed to shake himself, abruptly turning to face Astrid, moving with surprising speed.

The tree beside him rustled, but Astrid paid it no mind as she stepped into view, brandishing her axe. She'd already been spotted, so there was no point in hiding.

"HALT! Who are you? And what are you doing here?" She demanded, eyeing the stranger. The figure was poorly lit by the moonlight and covered in furs, so she couldn't make out many details. All she could tell was that he was about her height, had red hair and piercing green eyes. Everything else was cloaked in shadows.

The figure chuckled, and suddenly she could make out one more feature. A set of gleaming white teeth bared in a smirk.

"Me? I'm just passing through. As for who I am?" He seemed genuinely amused. "Apparently I'm a ghost." And then he just laughed and turned away from her.

"Hey, stop! Where do you think YOU'RE go… " She started to run towards the figure as he turned away from her, but as soon as she began to give chase he began to sprint off as well. And he was heading straight for the cliff! She could only watch in shock as the figure, still laughing merrily, reached the edge of the precipice… And leapt straight off it without an instant of hesitation.

She paused in shock, but hurried over to the cliff, a cold chill running down her spine as a stiff breeze blew across her. Reaching the edge, she glanced down to the rocks below, expecting to see the moonlight tinted crimson on the rocky beach. But there was nothing. Nothing she could see anyway. Just laughter echoing faintly in her mind.

Feeling numb, Astrid shakily stood up. _Could it truly have been a spirit?_ Eyes narrowing, she backtracked to where she'd first spied the figure. He had been standing in front of a particular stone.

It didn't take her long to find it. She had to use her axe to reflect some moonlight onto the inscription, but if she squinted, she could just make it out.

_"In Memory of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, Slayer of the Red Death."_

* * *

**The basic idea is that it's 6 years after the events of the movie. Or rather, after events that were slightly askew from the movie. Due to a few different decisions and some bad timing, the ending was a bit less rosy. Including an injured Hiccup and Toothless abandoning Berk for the open seas immediately after the battle at the Nest. Given his condition at the time, everyone assumed he perished.**

**Now, 6 years later, a very different Hiccup is forced by circumstances to return to Berk. A visit he wishes to keep as brief as possible. He's happy with his life the way it is. To him, a return to Berk is a return to the unpleasant memories of his youth. And to a village filled with Vikings who aren't quite certain what to think of him. Even after six years he's still an enigma. Part hero, part myth, part madman.**

**And, of course, there would be flashbacks to the movie timeline, to show just where and how things went wrong.**

**Unfortunately, the story hasn't quite gelled in my mind. I have some bits and pieces, and a basic plot. But I'm not sure what to fill in between those pieces. And my creativity seems to be drying up. So this, and perhaps a few more fic bits, are likely to be the sum total of this particular plot bunny.**


	6. Lost Scales, Part Three

And now for something humorous! The third and possibly last chapter of Lost Scales, which I call…

* * *

**Lost Scales Chapter 3: Row, Row, Row Your Boat **

* * *

"Row FASTER!" Toothless hissed lowly at Hiccup as the two young men paddled their small boat further and further from the shores of Berk.

"I'm going as fast as I can!" Hiccup hissed right back, glancing over his shoulder at the docks.

It was a pleasantly clear night, and the moon hung high in the sky, surrounded by stars. Under other circumstances Hiccup would have been content to lean back and stargaze. Tonight however, he felt like the moon was casting a spotlight down upon him and his formerly reptilian friend.

"Well go as fast as you CAN'T then! If they catch us, I'm DEAD!" There was a hint of panic in the black haired boy's voice, and he picked up his own pace.

"Stop that! If you row faster than me, we'll just go in circles! And wouldn't that be a hell of a way to get caught!" The scrawny Viking shook his head in despair. "And honestly, I don't know how you ARE still alive. I know you have a way with girls, but how did you keep all their PARENTS from cutting off your head and mounting it?"

Toothless just grinned roguishly. "Like you said. The Night Fury has a WAY with the LADIES." He winked. "Once I got them back on my side… " He cringed. "More or less… It was just the parents that were a problem."

"The heavily armed, over protective, incredibly angry Viking parents you mean."

Toothless cringed again. "Yeah. Them. Ahem. ANYWAY, I just had them take a look at me and talked them up about the big, tough, strong Viking children I was sure to give their daughters. It took some fast talking, but they eventually bought it." There was also the fact that they were still bickering over WHO would get to skin him, but that was a portion of the negotiations the dragon-turned-human didn't like to dwell on.

"Ah. I see." Hiccup was silent for a moment or two. "Let's row faster."

"It was all working out so well!" Toothless lamented. "I was even getting some of the girls to accept another helping of the Night Fury! Who knew this would happen…"

Things HAD been going fairly well for the past six months or so. Sure, Toothless had managed to knock up at least half the eligible young ladies in the village.. . But somehow he'd managed to sweat talk his way out having his head lopped off. BOTH his head's lopped off.

Mostly he'd been spending the last few months demonstrating that it wasn't merely his black scales and ability to fly that made a Night Fury so difficult to see. He was practically a ghost around the village, staying out of sight and out of mind. And out of axe-range.

But then Ruffnut had started going into labor. Premature labor. THREE MONTHS premature labor. And Hiccup had been dispatched to track down the baby's father. (Which hadn't taken long, since Hiccup was more or less the one HIDING Toothless most of the time.)

Everyone had been worried and frightened over such a premature birth. Ruffnut especially was terrified of losing her baby.

And then she'd given one last push and gave birth to… or was it laid? A black and white speckled egg.

And just like that it was suddenly TOOTHLESS that was terrified.

That had been less than four hours ago.

"How was _I_ supposed to know they'd have eggs instead of babies? Or be so upset about the whole thing? Humans do all SORTS of weird crazy things!" Toothless sighed, then slowly grinned, licking his lips. "All sorts of FUN things too though. Did you know that Tuffnut LOVES to…"

"No, I didn't, and know. And no, I don't want to know! Let's just focus on putting as much distance between THEM and US as possible before word gets out!" Tuffnut had been the first girl to fall to Toothless' charms, but there was a long string of follows who would soon be learning something unexpected about their pregnancies…

Toothless shivered at the reminder and nodded, redoubling his efforts with his oar.

"Say, why are you coming along with me anyway?" The black haired boy asked. "Not that I don't appreciate it and everything, but why?"

"Well, you're my best bud. I can't let you go alone…" Hiccup laughed nervously.

"Yeah, but still.. YOU'RE not in any trouble. And I'm surprised you're willing to leave Astrid. I mean, you even went and married her after you got her pregnant…"

Hiccup stopped rowing and slowly turned his head to look Toothless in the eye, his smile slipping from his face. For the first time in ages, he allowed his mask to slip, allowed the true terror he was feeling to shine in his eyes.

"Toothless, Astrid is five and a half months pregnant. Do you know what that girl is LIKE when she's pregnant?" He shuddered at the memories. "The only thing.. the ONLY thing that's kept her stable… Is the fact that half the other girls in the village are going through the same exact thing. " He took a shuddering breath.

"And now, thanks to you… All the other girls are going to be 'giving birth' three month's early. Leaving Astrid the only pregnant girl in the village. For three months. Alone. With me."

Toothless cringed. "Ah. I.. Uh.. I see… I'm real sorry about that man…"

Hiccup just continued as if Toothless hadn't spoke, his expression taking on the thousand yard stare of a combat veteran that has seen too much. Far, far too much.

"Do you know what pregnancy does to some women? It makes their hormones go nuts. With Astrid, it makes her.. insatiable…" He shivered, staring out into nothing.

"Well, that doesn't sound so bad now! She IS a hottie…" Toothless grinned and elbowed Hiccup, but the smaller boy didn't react.

"Do you know what the first thing she said when we started Dragon Training was?" Hiccup whispered. "She said 'It's no fun unless you get a scar out of it.' I didn't think she was serious… Why, oh why, for the love of Odin, WHY didn't I think she was SERIOUS?" He whimpered, practically curling up on himself as Toothless stared in dismay.

"Ah, Hiccup? Buddy? Pal?" Toothless tried to shake his friend out of it.

"I have rope burns in places no man should have rope burns!" He wailed, rocking back and forth, arms around his knees.

"Ooooookay…" Toothless let his gaze wander across the ocean waves, trying to avoid staring at Hiccup as he had his little break down. "Awwwkkkwaarrdd.." He whispered to himself.

"Ah, Hiccup.. you do realize that unless you start rowing again, they're likely to catch us? And then you'll be back home again…." Toothless began. And THAT seemed to have an effect, because before he could finish speaking Hiccup's eyes were wide open and the oar in his hands was a blur.

"Less talking and more paddling!" Hiccup ordered, eyes wide with fear. The fires on the island were still visible, but receding slowly in the distance. Before them was an infinite expanse of darkened ocean.

"Um.. by the way, do you know where we're going?" Toothless asked.

"Oh, yeah. We're going on a raid. You know, attacking a neighboring tribe. Looting a bit. Coming home. The place is conveniently located about nine months away, round trip. Dad told me all about it."

"Um.. A Viking raid? Just the two of us? That seems like rather long odds, don't you think?"

Hiccup stared at him for a moment. "Would you rather take your chances back there?"

"Right! The adventures of our Deadly Duo will be sung about for centuries! Those poor bastards won't know what hit them!" Toothless replied, his voice tinged with fear and desperation.

Just then a sound came rolling across the waves, cutting through the dark of night. A horrible, terrifying cry of a beast without mercy. Without pity. Without remorse.

Astrid had found the note Hiccup had left behind.

"HIIIICCUUUPPP! TOOOOTHHHLLESSSS! IF YOU'RE BOTH NOT BACK HERE IN FIVE MINUTES I'M GOING TO….!"

The pair stared at each other in terror for an instant, then spoke in unison.

"ROW FASTER!"

* * *

**And THAT ladies and gentlemen is why you should be more cautious about dating a girl who thinks scars and fun are synonymous. Or dragons turned human for that matter.**


	7. The Lost Boy, Part Two

Because this story idea is still rattling around in my head, even if it doesn't QUITE want to come out, here's another chunk of it!

* * *

**The Lost Boy, Part 2**

* * *

The silence didn't bother Stoic the Vast. At least not most of the time. He'd had six long years to get used to it after all. And he was a Viking! A CHIEF of Vikings! And Vikings didn't let little things like quiet houses or battle scars or missing friends slow them down!

Most of the time.

Most of the time Stoic didn't have the time to mope or dwell on the past. He was too busy with his duties as chief to think back to the days when his home had been filled with the thunder and laughter of his beautiful wife. Or the cries of a newborn babe. Or the thuds and thumps of his clumsy son.

No, most nights he was too busy to think about such things. Or too tired from a long day. Or too drunk from hoisting one too many tankards at the main hall.

But sometimes… sometimes.. when the moon was high in the night sky.. . when the ever-present wind stilled and went silent… When he'd had enough mead to make his mind wander but failed to drink enough to shut it down fully…

On those nights he'd sit silently at the main table, alone with a few flickering torches, and stare at what had once been a helmet. What had once been half of a matching set.

What had once been his last gift to his son.

He would stare at the lump of metal. Stare at the large, scorched dent in its side. Stare at the blackened stump of one horn and then at the point of the horn that remained. The point which had been driven into his door on a dark night over six years past.

And he would remember. He would remember things he would rather forget. Things he worked so hard during the day and drank so hard at night TO forget. But on nights like this, in his home, alone, there was no one and nothing to distract him from his treacherous thoughts. From his memories.

Some of the men are wondering if there even IS a plan. And, if so, what that plan might be…

Gobber. Oh how Stoic missed his brother in all but blood. Even after all these years, he could still feel his old friend standing at his shoulder. Hear his voice whispering in his ear. How often had he turned his head to reply to the peg legged Viking's comments, only to find naught but air and shadows?

"A plan." He muttered to himself, picking up the helmet and staring at it with unseeing eyes. "Ha. As if anyone could plan for THAT. If only I'd known… How could ANYONE have known..."

_It's like nothing you've ever seen! Dad, please! I promise you, you can't win this one! _

"I was a fool." The blackened steel seemed to mock him, soaking up the dim torchlight and giving nothing in return.

_Don't you think you were a bit hard on the boy Stoic?_

_He's been hiding a DRAGON Gobber! A Night Fury!_

_Aye, he has. Been this is Hiccup we're talking about. You know how your son is._

_Loki take it! I'll handle it later! When this is done!_

But later had never come. Or rather, it had come in a form Stoic could not have imagined. And the chance to fix things between himself and his son had been denied him.

The battle. The battle was seared into his mind. Something no amount of hard work or alcohol could dull. The horrific losses. The incredible destruction. And the terrible, terrible mistakes he had made. Those memories needed no special circumstances to invite themselves to the forefront of his mind. Especially these days.

No, it was what followed that preyed upon the chief's mind in the dark of night. The boy's disappearance. The fruitless searches. Then his brief return with that beast before his final departure. Leaving in the dark of night. Leaving despite his grievous wounds. Wounds which had not been fully tended to. Wounds which, left untreated, would surely spell death for even the strongest of Vikings.

But it was the words that hurt the most. Words delivered to him by others. But in his mind he would forever hear them spoken in Hiccup's voice. Quite possibly the last words his son had ever spoken.

_Tell Stoic the Vast that he was right. I am not a Viking. And I am not his son. _

Strong words. Harsh words. Words that burned Stoic to the depths of his soul.

Words Hiccup had emphasized with a thrown helmet and a blast of fire from the beast.

That was what he had found when he rushed up the hill when he heard the commotion. Some stunned teenagers, his son long gone, and a charred, dented mass of metal nailed into his door by its one remaining horn.

His hands slid over the dented and disfigured steel of what had once been the companion to the helmet upon his own head. A helmet forged from the breastplate of the woman he'd loved and lost. A helmet given to the son he'd had such high hopes for, the son his mistakes had driven off to his death. Now it was little more than a lump of scorched metal that had been left pinned to the door of an empty, silent house. A house that would never again echo with womanly laughter or childish sarcasm or any of a thousand different sounds he had never thought upon until they were absent.

Stoics eyes were fixated upon it the battered helm, but he did not truly see it. All he could see was a blurry outline, and his memories.

He didn't even notice the tears leaking from his eyes, his graying beard soaking up each salty droplet.

* * *

**Argh! I think I have a pretty cool idea for a story here, based on some fairly small deviations earlier in the movie. But I can't quite seem to get things written down! This little bit with Stoic was particularly hard. He's a difficult character to write for I think. Anyway, if I get together enough of these bits, I'll eventually move them over to their own real story.**

**But it seems increasingly unlikely that I'll manage to get that much done. I'm afraid my Muse has departed, slipping away into the aether. BUT, on the plus side, it DID stick around long enough for me to do something I've never actually done before; create a music video! This is a pretty radical departure for me, but I'm actually rather pleased with how it came out, all things considered. It is, of course, about How to Train Your Dragon. And it can be found on Youtube under CrazyChemist01. The title is "HTTYD - What is Eternal". **

**My first ever Music Video. Go me! :)**


	8. Ruff Times Ahead

I think the title speaks for itself on this one...

**

* * *

****Ruff Times Ahead**

* * *

"Toooothless… Oh Tooooooothless! Where are you buddy?" Hiccup smiled as he called out his friend's name, slowly slipping around a large boulder. Dragon Training had finally let out for the day and Hiccup was eager to get back in the air and practice aerial acrobatics with his scaled partner once again.

Of course, that meant he had to FIND his partner first. And the fact that Toothless hadn't come when he called meant his friend was clearly in the mood for another game of hide-and-seek. Not that Hiccup was going to complain. Stalking the Night Fury was always an enjoyable challenge. Not to mention just the thing to take his mind of his father's sudden return, and the semi-finals of dragon training the next day.

And so the young Viking crept silently around yet another boulder, peaking around it in an effort to spot his reptilian companion. Of course, his attempts at stealth would have been far more successful if he had refrained from calling out the dragon's name every few minutes. Remaining silent would have been helpful.

So would have looking up at the top of the boulder he was circling.

If nothing else, it would have given him a bit of warning that Toothless had decided to switch from hide-and-seek to stalk-and-pounce.

"GAH!" Hiccup gasped in surprise as several hundred pounds of mischievous Night Fury pounced upon him with but an instant's warning as a black shadow eclipsed the sun.

"Toothless!" The scrawny Viking gasped, a hand on his chest, his breathing ragged as he glared up at his best friend. For his part, Toothless just smirked down unashamedly, a victorious grin on his muzzle as he stood over the fallen red head. After a few second Hiccup couldn't help but grin right back.

Which was about when some bushes some fifty feet away seemed to EXPLODE.

"HIYAAAHHH!" Bursting out of the bushes at a full run, blonde pigtails streaming behind her, her spear held steady in her hands, Ruffnut charged at Toothless and Hiccup, violence shinning in her eyes.

"Let him GO!" She yelled as she rapidly closed the distance, speartip glinting in the sunlight.

Hiccup and Toothless were shocked into immobility for a moment before regaining their senses. Toothless immediately crouched down, growling and ready for battle. And just as quickly, Hiccup leapt to his feet and stood between the two of them, his back to Toothless and his arms stretched out wide as if his spindly limbs could act as any kind of shield.

"Ah! Ruffnut! Hi!" He called out, a panicked grin on his face. Those were the first words to pop into his brain, and even to him they sounded absolutely ridiculous under the circumstances. But on the plus side, his friendly greeting was so out of place in a battle that Ruffnut couldn't help but slow down and stare at him.

And so Ruffnut halted her headlong charge, spear dropping down to her side as she stared at Hiccup. Then at the snarling black dragon behind him. Then back at Hiccup who was, and this was the important part, NOT being mauled, bitten, or blasted by said angry looking dragon.

"Hi Hiccup." The blonde Viking replied, tilting her head sideways and staring at him disbelievingly. "What's going on?" She asked in an unnaturally neutral tone of voice.

"Um…. Nothing?" Hiccup replied with a hopeless smile.

"Ah. You do realize there's a dragon right behind you, right?"

Hiccup turned around to stare at Toothless who had stopped growling for the moment. Realizing that the fight seemed to have been, at the very least, postponed, he had opted to sit back on his haunches and observe the situation curiously.

"Oh. So there is." Hiccup replied mildly.

Silence reigned across the grotto. In the distance, some birds chirped. The river babbled quietly. A small splash marred the surface of the lake with concentric ripples as a fish disturbed the surface. And Hiccup and Ruffnut stared at each other as the seconds ticked by, the nervous grin on Hiccup's face matched by the blank, slack jawed expression on Ruffnut's.

"Oh. Ah. Yes. Introductions." Hiccup finally began after the silence had stretched on. Stepping aside, he gestured at the Night Fury

"Ruffnut, meet Toothless. Toothless, Ruffnut." The silence continued as Ruffnut just stared.

"Um.. He's a Night Fury." Hiccup felt obligated to add, just to fill the silence.

"You…." Ruffnut blinked rapidly as she finally began emerging from her shock induced stupor.

"Yes?" Hiccup's eyes darted to the left and right. Ruff and Tuff tended to be… unpredictable… And he wanted to make sure he and Toothless had a safe escape route when this whole thing blew up in his face.

"You…. You…" She raised a finger and pointed it at Hiccup.

"Me?" His grin became more and more strained, his head constantly turning to glance back at Toothless.

"You've TAMED a NIGHT FURY?" She half shrieked, half questioned. Her voice was high pitched enough and loud enough to make both Viking and dragon cringe.

"Um… Sort of?" Hiccup cleared his throat, eyes darting from Ruff's face to the point of her very sharp spear. "I think I'd say 'made friends with' more than 'tamed' really, but….." He shrugged helplessly.

"That's… That's the most.. Ridiculous.. Crazy… INSANE thing I've ever heard!" She sputtered, eyes narrowing at the pair. Hiccup began dry washing his hands while Toothless returned to his crouched position, his big green eyes narrowing in return.

"Yes, well, I'm sure I can EXPLAIN…." Hiccup began, desperate to avoid a fight.

"This is AWESOME!" She shouted, throwing her arms into the air. Both Hiccup and Toothless' attention was, understandably, focused on the weapon in her hand as it whirled about madly.

"Er.. it is?" Hiccup blinked. "I mean, yeah, it is! Of course it is!" He let out a short, nervous laugh to cover up his confusion. This was NOT how he expected things to go. Not that he had EXPECTED anyone to charge out of the bushes at him and Toothless mind you. Let alone Ruffnut. Let alone a Ruffnut that seemed more impressed than horrified…

While Hiccup was still trying to reorient his worldview, Tuffnut was covering the last few feet between them without a trace of concern. Toothless was less than thrilled with an armed human getting so close to him, OR to Hiccup. He narrowed his eyes at the blonde haired girl and growled warningly, a sound filled with menace and danger.

And a sound which seemed to have no effect on the wide eyed Viking, who completely ignored it. Instead she just stared at the Night Fury in amazement, before transferring her gaze to Hiccup. Toothless quickly stopped growling, sitting back on his haunches in surprise at the girl's reaction, or last thereof.

Something was CLEARLY wrong with this human. That was NOT how Vikings were supposed to respond to a menacing glare from a dragon!

"Are you kidding? This is insanely awesome!" She grinned manically at Hiccup, now standing right in front of the bemused red head. She kept shifting from side to side to look past Hiccup at Toothless, who was staring right back at her, clearly almost as puzzled as Hiccup. "You have a pet DRAGON!"

"Ah, well, he's not exactly a PET… More like a friend…" Hiccup interjected cautiously. Not that Ruffnut noticed as she steamrolled right over his words.

"How did you find him? How did you keep him from eating you?" Tuffnut demanded, moving to step past Hiccup.

Somehow letting Ruffnut get closer to his friend seemed like a bad idea. Glancing back at Toothless, Hiccup stepped to the side to continue blocking Ruffnut even as he tried to answer her questions.

"Um, well, I kind of shot him down. When I found him out here…"

"Holy Hel! I just realized this means you actually DID shoot down a Night Fury! That's CRAZY!" Tuffnut didn't seem put off in the least with the way Hiccup moved to block her. She just stepped to the left, Hiccup following. What followed was a constant shuffling of position as Hiccup struggled to keep up with Ruffnut physically, mentally, and verbally. Really, it was more or less a lost cause.

"Well, yeah. I kinda did. But I couldn't just KILL him, so…"

"I bet that's why you've been kicking ass in training! You've got your own dragon to train with!"

"Um, that's pretty much right. I've learned a lot of stuff from Toothless and…"

"What does he eat? I bet it's sheep. Dragons always seem to go for the sheep. Where are you getting sheep from?"

"Actually, Toothless prefers fish…"

"And what's with the stuff on his back? Is that a SADDLE?"

"Ah, yeah. It's a saddle. I made it so I could…"

"You made it a saddle? You mean you can actually FLY on it?" Ruffnut ceased her constant shuffling to get past Hiccup, her eyes wide as she shifted her gaze from the bemused Toothless to the equally puzzled Hiccup.

Hiccup paused his motion as well, remaining silent for a few heartbeats before answering, waiting to see if he'd be given a CHANCE to answer. Ruffnut's flood of words still had him unbalanced. Just in case she decided to start up again, he kept his answer short and sweet.

"Yes?"

"That. Is. Totally. CRAZY!" She shouted, a huge grin on her face. With a laugh she slugged Hiccup in the arm, almost bowling him over at the unexpected impact.

Still uncertain about this new girl, Toothless wasn't about to let an attack on Hiccup go unanswered. So he quickly leaned forward into an aggressive stance, stepping closer to Ruffnut and opening his mouth to say…

"RROOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAARRRRRRR!"

Tuffnut's braids flapped behind her, her helmet going askew as the wave of sound and air blew over her, stunning and half deafening her. All she could do was blink for a few moments, stunned by the noise. She didn't remain stunned for long however.

After a few more blinks, Tuffnut abruptly leaned forward into the face of a smirking Toothless, opened her mouth, and offered her own reply.

"RROOOOOOOOOOAAARRRR!"

Toothless immediately pulled his head back and returned to sitting on his haunches, startled by the crazy blonde girl's behavior. Sure, she wasn't nearly as loud as he was, but that wasn't the point! Humans just didn't DO things like that! It only confused him more when Ruffnut leaned her head back and started laughing uproariously. The confused Night Fury let one of his ear fans droop as he turned to give Hiccup a look. _What is WRONG with this girl?_

Hiccup just shrugged helplessly as he glanced back at Toothless. _Damned if I know!_

"Hah! Just wait until I tell Tuff about this! He'll go nuts!"

THAT statement got Hiccup's immediate and undivided attention. He spun to face Ruffnut and waves his arms frantically.

"Ah, no! No no no! You can't tell anyone about Toothless!"

"And why NOT?" The blonde challenged, tilting her head to the side.

"Because the others will KILL him!" Hiccup rolled his eyes as he lifted his hands to rub Toothless' neck. "You have to keep this a secret!"

"Hmmmmmmmm…." Ruffnut grinned at Hiccup, tapping her chin with a finger as if considering.

"Plleeeeaaaseee!" Hiccup asked desperately. He gave her a pleading look. The power of which as more than doubled when Toothless lowered his head next to Hiccup's and added his own big, soulful green eyes to the puppy-dog stare.

"Well… All right." Both males breathed a sigh of relief. A premature sigh of relief as it turned out. Ruff's eyes narrowed evilly as she grinned.

"BUT… I want something in return." She practically crowed.

"Huh?" Toothless and Hiccup glanced at each other, seeming to communicating wordlessly. "What sort of something?" Hiccup asked cautiously.

"I want YOU…" Ruffnut smirked, pointing her finger at Hiccup. "To give me a ride on HIM!" She shifted her finger to Toothless, practically cackling in glee at the looks on their faces.

Once again a wordless glance passed between Viking and dragon. After a second Hiccup shrugged at Toothless, and Toothless shrugged right back. Then both focused their attention on Ruffnut once again.

"I.. guess that's okay." Hiccup ventured.

"Great! We can go tomorrow after dragon training!" Ruff was practically bouncing on the balls of her feet in excitement, a wicked grin on her face. She glanced up at the sun, estimating the time.

"I should go now. Tuff should be waking up soon…" she muttered something about stupid brothers and concussions never lasting long that Hiccup was just as glad he couldn't quite make out. "He'll probably start following my trail, and I don't think you want him stumbling upon tall black and scaly here."

"No. No, that would be BAD." Hiccup agreed. Tuffnut sighed and rolled her eyes.

"I guess I'll have to make up some excuse about where I've been…" She muttered as she turned away and began walking back towards the narrow crevice that marked the entrance to the grotto.

"What are you going to tell him?" Hiccup asked Ruff's retreating back.

"Eh, I don't know. I guess I'll just tell him I followed you after training, and I took so long getting back because we were making out." She glanced over her shoulder at Hiccup with a manic grin before facing forward again and beginning to cackle madly as she sprinted away.

"Oh." Hiccup blinked as her words penetrated. "Oh! Hey! Wait! What do you mean, making.. out…" He raised his hand as if to call her back… But Ruffnut was already disappearing into the cliffs of the grotto, her slightly insane laughter lingering in the form of an echo.

The red headed Viking remained standing there with his arm outstretched for several seconds. When he sensed Toothless beside him, he slowly lowered his hand.

"I suppose that went… Well?" Hiccup sounded less than certain as he and his partner stared at the cleft in the rocks through which the pigtailed girl had vanished.

Toothless just snorted and shook his head vigorously before allowing himself to collapse onto the soft earth with a thump.

"Yeah. We're probably doomed."

* * *

**I decided I wanted to do something funny for my next bit, and the notion of Ruffnut finding out about Hiccup and Toothless before Astrid struck me as amusing. Especially a crazy, adrenaline junkie Ruffnut who takes the whole situation in stride. People seem to like to pair up Ruffnut and Fishlegs, but why shouldn't the OTHER blonde girl have a shot at the big damned hero for once? Besides, the mental image of Ruffnut being given a death defying "Toothless Suicide Special" ride and cackling gleefully the whole time is just too much fun to ignore!**

**Obviously the rest of the movie would be a little askew, but I think it could still be held together. Of course, Ruffnut would likely give a much different pep talk than Astrid during the scene overlooking the docks…. Heh. Maybe I'll have to write a few more scenes of this some other time.**

**I originally tried to write this with bits and pieces from Ruffnut's point of view, but I couldn't quite get it to not suck. I think it works better this way. Ruffnut is more entertaining if you DON'T see the inner workings of her brain, just the seemingly insane output.**


	9. Rebooted

I should be working on the Lost Boy, but this idea smacked me in the face and refused to go away. What can I do?

* * *

**Rebooted**

* * *

Morning came early on Berk during the summer. It was as if the Gods were trying to cram every second of light into each day to make up for winter's long, nearly endless nights. The long days could be a blessing. But the ungodly hour at which the sun rose was definitely a curse as far as Hiccup was concerned.

"Ughhhh…. I'm up, I'm up…." The red headed teen muttered to no one in particular as he sat up in bed, squinting at the sunlight shinning through his shutters. His mouth was dry, his eyes burned from the sunlight, and his head was throbbing miserably. What HAD he been doing last night? He felt worse than the time Snoutlout challenged him to a drinking contest! And since that had been less than a week ago, he had a very good recollection of just how miserable he'd been the next morning.

"Meh… Wheresat?" Eyes half closed, Hiccup turned himself around to get off the bed, patting around himself to find his prosthetic. It had been over a month since he'd lost his limb in battle with the Red Death, and he was finally getting used to having to strap his leg on in the morning. It was going to take a lot longer to get used to the phantom sensations he received from flesh and muscle that was no longer there. And those odd sensations were especially strong this morning.

_Gonna be one of those days…_ He thought groggily to himself as his questing hands failed to find his prosthetic. Groaning at the inconvenience, Hiccup placed his feet down on the ground in preparation for hopping around his bed to find his lost limb. It took a few moments for his fuzzy mind to realize there was something going on. Something that involved plurals. Specifically the plural of foot.

Feet.

Looking down at his two intact, matching, flesh and blood feet, Hiccup's brain, well, hiccupped.

"What the HEL?"

* * *

"DAD! DAD! It grew back! My leg GREW BACK!" Hiccup shouted, his voice a combination of joy, shock, and confusion. He tore down the stairs, almost tumbling down them in his rush. It was… strange... to have the phantom sensations of his leg become REAL again. And he was definitely off balance. He'd had a month to get used to his prosthetic, and apparently he had done a better job of it than he had thought. His new flesh and blood leg was actually throwing him OFF balance! He'd already taken one painful fall when he leapt to his feet in shock.

_Feet. Plural._ The thought sent a shiver of wonder up and down his spine.

"I thought it was just a DREAM! But dreams don't HURT and... Dad?" Hiccup paused as he reached the bottom of the stairs, looking around the empty first floor of the house he shared with his father. Wherever Stoic the Vast was, it certainly wasn't here this morning.

Something tickled the back of his mind regarding the condition and decor of his home. But it was a minor thing compared to the overwhelming wonder of his miraculous regeneration. All of his prayers to Odin must have finally paid off, and he couldn't waste time THINKING about things when there were people to be told!

Rushing out the door and into the village Hiccup half ran, half stumbled down the street. He wasn't running anyplace in particular, just running for the sheer joy of being able to do so again without pain of metal squeaking of clumsiness…

_Well, with less clumsiness at least!_ He thought happily as he picked himself up off the ground for the third time, his head darting this way and that, looking for someone, anyone to tell about his miraculous recovery! The streets of Berk were unusual quiet this morning however. And something about their condition niggled at the back of his mind. But he was far too excited to dwell on trivialities as he rounded a corner at full speed.

And ran straight into the well-muscled bulk of Goober. The peg legged blacksmith was unmoved by the impact. Hiccup on the other hand came out a bit worse for wear, landing on his backside in front of his teacher.

"Ah, there you are lad! In a hurry to get going, are ye? Ye should be, since her already late." Goober reached down and slid his hook through Hiccup's collar, easily lifting the skinny young man to his feet.

"Goober! My leg! My leg's back! It came back!" Hiccup babbled excitedly, waving said limb towards his mentor as he was dangled off the ground. The reaction he received was a bit more subdued that he had expected.

"Aye, did it now?" Goober glanced down at the limb with a surprising lack of interest, before looking back up at Hiccup. "And where did it get off to in the first place lad? Did a troll steal it on you?"

Hiccup could only stare at Goober in shock, hanging limply from his hook.

"A troll? What are you…? No! A troll did NOT steal it! It got mangled and cut off! You know, when I fought that big dragon?"

"Right, right. Of course. What was I thinking." Goober turned around and continued walking, his apprentice dangling from his hook. "That must have been some dream lad."

"Wha? Dream? DREAM? You were there Goober! You're the one who cut off my leg!" Arms crossed, Hiccup shot the older Viking the nastiest glare he could manage.

"Aye, I did, did I?" Narrowing his eyes at the boy, he growled. "And why did I do that? Might it have been because ye were late to dragon training?"

"Dragon training? Who cares about dragon training? It can wait a few hours!" Hiccup growled. Hel, Hiccup was the main instructor these days! Dragon training could wait all day if he damned well wanted it to! But Goober just sighed in exasperation.

"Hiccup, I expected better of ya! I know you've wanted this for ages, and now yer dad has finally given it his blessing. Aye, and put ME in charge of ya!" Goober gave his arm a shake, causing Hiccup's teeth to rattle as he was bounced around.

"And I'm gonna be having a hard time training ya up into a proper Viking if yer getting yourself worked up over some silly dream about a lost leg!" And with that he unceremoniously dropped Hiccup onto the ground, letting the scrawny red head sprawl out on the dusty path.

"Now, go join up with the rest of yer class. I need to get things prepared!" Gesturing behind Hiccup he shook his head and started to walk off, using his metal hook to tap his stone tooth back into place and muttering something about not telling Hiccup stories about his lost limbs before bed anymore.

Still somewhat stunned by this turn of events, Hiccup slowly turned his head to look behind him. Only to receive yet another shock. He had been facing Goober during their entire conversation / walk, but he instinctively knew where they had been headed. The Training Ring, formerly known as the Kill Ring.

Only judging by the lattice of thick metal bars over the ring, there was no 'formerly' in that 'known as.' The cage had been the first thing they'd taken down once relations between Vikings and Dragons had improved.

And yes, there were the rest of his classmates, walking towards the main gates into the ring. One big group of swaggering teens, filled with confidence and testosterone. (Hel, even Astrid and Ruffnut seemed to have more of that than him back in the old days! Well, even these days if he was going to be honest with himself.)

Sitting there, sprawled out in the dirt, Hiccup could do little more than stare and whisper what was becoming his new catch phrase.

"What the HEL?"

* * *

"Yeah, it's only fun if you get a scar out of it." Astrid stated, her hair swishing as she moved her head to survey the walls and bars of the arena.

Previously that had been Hiccup's cue to make some sort of witty, sarcastic comment. Alas, Hiccup's usual sarcasm seemed to have taken a leave of absence this morning. Fortunately his uncharacteristic silence went unnoticed. In point of fact his very presence was more or less unnoticed. Or at the very least ignored. It was sometimes difficult for him to tell the difference.

Hiccup walked in a shocked stupor as he followed the other five trainees into the ring. It as just as well that nobody as paying him any attention, since he wasn't paying any attention to the rest of the world around him.

_The whole world has been turned upside-down._ No, that wasn't even close. The whole world was turned upside-down all the time when he flew with Toothless. (That useless reptile did love to do loops!) He could understand the world just FINE upside-down! He was USED to upside-down! This, this was all twisted and bent and sideways and BACKWARDS!

His head ached abominably. His leg was throbbing with phantom sensations that weren't actually phantom anymore. He was standing in the rebuilt Kill Ring surrounded by his friends who were ignoring him. And he felt much like he had on that first faithful flight with Toothless, when he'd fallen from the saddle. His stomach was in his throat, he felt like he was falling to his death, and the whole world was spinning crazily around him. Only this felt worse, because both of his feet were on the ground!

BOTH of his feet! As in two of them! A properly matching set!

_What the Hel?_ Hiccup's mind spun and sputtered, but went nowhere. Like one of the gears in Toothless's saddle, but stripped of teeth and spinning aimlessly. He just stood there in the kill ring, his thoughts running in circles, a non-expression on his face.

Peripherally he was aware of the others talking. Talking, and making snide remarks about him. '_Look, we haven't even seen a dragon yet and he's scared stiff!' _Goober was there too, saying something disturbingly familiar. Though his eyes kept shifting to Hiccup's blank face.

_My leg grew back. But nobody seems to care?_ Hiccup's thoughts felt fractured, his attention skittering across icy mental ground. _Who rebuilt the Kill Ring? And how did they do it so fast? Goober's the one who cut OFF my leg! How could he have forgotten? Where are the rest of the dragons? They wouldn't sit around while the cage was put back up! They didn't even say hello to me! OR comment on my leg! Astrid would notice! Astrid notices everything! It grew back! Overnight! What's going on?_

Goober was talking. Something about the types of dragons. Not that Hiccup was paying him any heed, lost in his own thoughts as he was. It didn't even impinge on his consciousness the way the rest of the group kept glancing at each other and staring at him.

Fishlegs whispered the stats of each dragon to himself, but ever so quietly, eyes darting to the unmoving red head besides him. Snotlout had whispered a few rude comments about the way Hiccup was just standing there, lost to the world. But when the chief's son failed to respond, failed to even BLINK, he grew uncomfortable and lapsed into silence.

Even Goober seemed worried. But he could hardly hang up the entire training regime based on Hiccup's undeniably strange behavior. Strange by HICCUP standards even, and not just those of normal Vikings! Still, Goober was fairly certain that being faced with an angry dragon would snap the boy out of whatever funk he was in. Nothing got a Viking's blood flowing like a good fight after all!

"Whoa, whoa, wait! Aren't you going to TEACH us first?" Snotlout demanded nervously, eyes widening as Goober reached for the lever to opens the Gronkle's cage.

"I believe in learning on the job." With one last look at (the still immobile) Hiccup, Goober pulled the lever.

Contrary to Goober's expectations, releasing the dragon was NOT enough to bring Hiccup's mind back to the here and now. It WAS enough to get the rest of the class moving, but Hiccup had grown quite comfortable with having dragons flying around him. The little bit of hardware in most Viking's brains that screamed 'Dragon! Danger!' into their conscious mind had been worn away by time and familiarity. Not that it had ever worked particularly well in Hiccup's case anyway.

Thankfully Goober was right about an earlier comment. The Gronkle was clearly focused on the bigger, more menacing teens. The scrawny fishbone that was standing, unmoving, in the middle of the ring barely earned a second glance.

_My leg is back. Legs don't grow back overnight. They don't grow back at all. The Kill Ring is back up. You can't put something like this up overnight either. And we melted half of it down to use for tack and saddles!_ Hiccup's mind was still running in circles, but the circles were growing tighter and tighter as they spiraled down towards a final conclusion. _Astrid, Snotlout, Ruff and Tuff, even Fishlegs… They're all pretty much ignoring me. Everyone's acting like it's the first day of Dragon Training all over…_

_It's like…_ A crazy, impossible notion slipped into his brain. And despite how insane is was, it refused to leave. _It's like I've gone back in time!_

"Oh, for the love of Odin! Hiccup! Snap out of it and get in there Lad!" Goober growled, rushing over to the comatose boy and literally shoving a shield onto his arm and an axe into his hand. Then he gave the boy a slap on the back to get him moving in the right direction, just as Snotlout took one of the gronkle's shots to his shield.

Goober's intentions were good, but as with so many things in Hiccup's life, good intentions were not enough. For the first time since the Gronkle was released Hiccup was armed, shielded, and moving. And under the circumstances, that was enough to gain the dragon's undivided attention.

The slap on the back was enough to finally rouse Hiccup from his stupor. Just in time to see an angry dragon flying straight at him. A very familiar dragon, his mind pointed out.

"Terrorcow?" Hiccup yelped, eyes widening as his mind returned to the real world and his brain kicked into gear once again. He recognized Fishleg's dragon instantly once he was actually focused on the world around him. He'd always found Fishleg's name for the Gronkle to be a little odd, but he named HIS friend Toothless, so he figured he didn't have any right to judge.

"Hiccup! Look Out!" Goober shouted, rushing towards the frail young Viking. The boy was clearly frozen. Even as he watched the axe slipped from Hiccup's numb fingers, and he hadn't even raised his shield as the Gronkle bore down on him! Stoic would never let him hear the end of it if the boy was slaughtered on his first day of dragon training!

"Yikes! Terrorcow!" Hiccup instinctively dodged to the side as the Gronkle dashed towards him. And just as instinctively he reached out to deal with an angry dragon the way he'd grown accustomed to. The unfamiliar weight of the axe fell from his fingers as he released it, bringing his empty hand up to the side of the passing dragon instead. Thankfully the gronkle was braking and trying to turn to make another pass on the scrawny boy, giving Hiccup time to work his magic.

Goober was still a good eight or ten feet away when Hiccup dropped the beast to the ground, out cold, with his bare hands. The one armed Vikings skidded to a halt, his mouth dropping open in shock as Hiccup stood there beside the defeated beast.

As a matter of fact EVERYONE was standing there in shock, staring at Hiccup.

"Whoa. I must totally have a concussion, because I'm seeing things." Tuffnut muttered, the blonde boy still looking a bit dazed from his close encounter with the gronkle's fireball.

"Me too…" Ruffnut replied in the same shocked tone of voice.

"Terrorcow…" Hiccup muttered again, looking down at the (now happily dozing) dragon.

_Why would Terrorcow attack me like that? It's almost like he.. didn't.. Remember… Me…_ Hiccup's eyes widened as his earlier conclusion came back to the forefront of his mind.

"Aw Hel. Toothless!" Hiccup stammered. He spun around towards the exit, almost falling over as the weight of the shield along with his unfamiliar (yet oh so familiar!) left leg threw him off balance. He practically ripped the shield off his arm as he stumbled out of the Kill Ring.

"Sorryguys, justrememberedsomething, gottago!" He blurted, giving the rest of the group a wave as he half ran, half stumbled out of the arena.

"What." Astrid asked aloud.

"The." Snotlout continued, staring after the rapidly vanishing form of Hiccup.

"Hel." Fishleg finished.

All heads turned to face Fishlegs at his rather unexpected use of profanity. The massive teen always talked a lot. But he never really cursed. Not even mild curses. Even saying 'Hel' was out of character for him.

It wasn't even mid morning, and they'd already had enough 'out of character' behavior from Hiccup to last a month. Several months.

"Ah.. Sorry, sorry…" Fishlegs muttered, rubbing the back of his neck as his face went red in embarrassment. "It just kind of… slipped out…"

Satisfied that Fishlegs was acting normally after all, and was NOT about to start acting like a madman or showing off insane dragon fighting skills, attention was returned to the snoring Gronkle in the middle of the ring.

Goober walked over and gave the beast a poke with his peg leg, eliciting little more than a grunt from the creature as one of its forelegs pawed the air in it's blissful sleep.

"Well. That was different." Goober said thoughtfully. "Now then, which one of you lads is going to help me haul this overgrown sausage back into his cage?"

* * *

**This is just a silly idea that popped, unbidden, into my head. What if, for whatever reason, Hiccup (and Toothless) were thrown back into the past? From a point not long after the movie ended, right back to the beginning? Sending characters back in time to redo their adventures with their accumulated knowledge and wisdom is a fairly common fanfiction trope. But I don't recall seeing it done with How to Train Your Dragon before.**

**I could actually run quite a ways with this I think, rehashing the movie with a slightly wiser (or at least more confident) Hiccup. I can think of several amusing changes that might result from Hiccup's foreknowledge. Maybe I'll even write more of this idea, since I seem to be rather stalled with my other work.**

**I'm still trying to hack out another chapter of The Lost Boy. I know where I want to go. I have most of the scenes thought out, even if I am still shifting around their order. But I just can't seem to write it. I can claw out a few paragraphs a night if the mood hits me. As opposed to this plot bunny, which I managed to churn out in a matter of hours. Oh well. My muse takes me where it takes me! If it hangs around a bit longer, perhaps I WILL make a full story out of this!**


End file.
